p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"emspan lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-ansi-language:EN-US"Chapter 9/span/em/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-ansi-language:EN-US"Willowpaw crouched next to her mother's body, together with Fernpaw, Tigerstar, and Mudtail, who had been her mentor. When the vigil ended, Willowpaw went towards Gingerfur, since she wanted to go out on patrol. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-ansi-language:EN-US""Willowpaw, you can join the patrol with Stormpelt, Dawnheart and Brownpaw. They are going to lay scent markers in the YellowClan border," said Gingerfur./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-ansi-language:EN-US"Willowpaw went towards her mentor and they all went towards the forest./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-ansi-language:EN-US""Guess what!," said Brownpaw, looking at her with big green eyes. "Tomorrow is our warrior ceremony!"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-ansi-language:EN-US"Willowpaw suddenly felt a little happier. She had wanted to be a warrior for so long. But Silverfur wasn't there to see her become a warrior./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-ansi-language:EN-US"The cats continued walking through the forest until Stormpelt stopped dead./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-ansi-language:EN-US"Willowpaw started sniffing, and suddenly noticed why the warrior was so scared. There was badger scent all over the place./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-ansi-language:EN-US"Suddenly, a huge badger came running from the YellowClan territory, with two YellowClan cats, Lionfang and Whitepaw, hard on its paws./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-ansi-language:EN-US"The badger launched and attacked Stormpelt. The YellowClan cats came to help the badger get killed./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-ansi-language:EN-US"Suddenly, Brownpaw scratched the badger's back, and the badger turned to the brown tom. It pinned him, and Willowpaw jumped towards the badger, but it was too late, the badger had already bit Brownpaw on his neck, and he was heavily bleeding./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-ansi-language:EN-US"Dawnheart, Stormpelt and Lionfang continued chasing the badger, while the apprentices stayed where they were./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-ansi-language:EN-US""Brownpaw!," said Willowpaw, running towards the brown tom./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-ansi-language:EN-US""Willowpaw, you're the greatest thing ever happened to me. I owe you my life," said Brownpaw. "You made me realize what I was doing wrong when you saved me from the previous badger attack."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-ansi-language:EN-US""But I couldn't save you this time!," she said, looking at Brownpaw./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-ansi-language:EN-US""I will never forget you Willowpaw. You taught me even more than Dawnheart," he said. "When your time comes, we can be mates in StarClan."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-ansi-language:EN-US""But I want to be your mate now! I wanted to live by your side, and take care of our kits, and do patrols together as warriors," she said. "I failed to save you!"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-ansi-language:EN-US""No Willowpaw," started Brownpaw. "I failed to protect myself. And I will miss you."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-ansi-language:EN-US""Good journey, old friend," said Willowpaw, when she realized Brownpaw was dead. She suddenly remembered, how he mocked her when they were kits, how they fell in love with each other, how they told each other they wanted to continue their life together… but that was over, thanks to the badger./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-ansi-language:EN-US""I'm really sorry," said Whitepaw, as she noticed Brownpaw was dead. "I didn't know you loved him so much."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-ansi-language:EN-US""My life sucks. First Silverfur, and now Brownpaw. StarClan must hate me!," she said, lowering her head./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-ansi-language:EN-US""Silverfur is dead?," asked Whitepaw./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-ansi-language:EN-US"Willowpaw nodded, and Whitepaw crouched next to her./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-ansi-language:EN-US"Suddenly, they saw the three warriors coming back./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-ansi-language:EN-US""We chased him toward RatClan terr…," started Dawnheart, until she noticed Brownpaw was dead./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-ansi-language:EN-US""He was a brave cat," said Stormpelt. "And the clan will honor him forever."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-ansi-language:EN-US"Lionfang and Whitepaw said goodbye and went back to their territory, while Dawnheart, Stormpelt and Willowpaw took Brownpaw's body back to the camp./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-ansi-language:EN-US"Softpelt prepared the apprentice's body for the vigil, and Squirrelpaw, Goosewing, Smokethroat, Dawnheart and Willowpaw crouched next to the body of the fallen apprentice./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-ansi-language:EN-US"After the vigil finished, Willowpaw went to the apprentice's den. She just wanted to sleep./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-ansi-language:EN-US"Willowpaw crouched next to her mother's body, together with Fernpaw, Tigerstar, and Mudtail, who had been her mentor. When the vigil ended, Willowpaw went towards Gingerfur, since she wanted to go out on patrol. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-ansi-language:EN-US""Willowpaw, you can join the patrol with Stormpelt, Dawnheart and Brownpaw. They are going to lay scent markers in the YellowClan border," said Gingerfur./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-ansi-language:EN-US"Willowpaw went towards her mentor and they all went towards the forest./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-ansi-language:EN-US""Guess what!," said Brownpaw, looking at her with big green eyes. "Tomorrow is our warrior ceremony!"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-ansi-language:EN-US"Willowpaw suddenly felt a little happier. She had wanted to be a warrior for so long. But Silverfur wasn't there to see her become a warrior./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-ansi-language:EN-US"The cats continued walking through the forest until Stormpelt stopped dead./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-ansi-language:EN-US"Willowpaw started sniffing, and suddenly noticed why the warrior was so scared. There was badger scent all over the place./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-ansi-language:EN-US"Suddenly, a huge badger came running from the YellowClan territory, with two YellowClan cats, Lionfang and Whitepaw, hard on its paws./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-ansi-language:EN-US"The badger launched and attacked Stormpelt. The YellowClan cats came to help the badger get killed./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-ansi-language:EN-US"Suddenly, Brownpaw scratched the badger's back, and the badger turned to the brown tom. It pinned him, and Willowpaw jumped towards the badger, but it was too late, the badger had already bit Brownpaw on his neck, and he was heavily bleeding./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-ansi-language:EN-US"Dawnheart, Stormpelt and Lionfang continued chasing the badger, while the apprentices stayed where they were./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-ansi-language:EN-US""Brownpaw!," said Willowpaw, running towards the brown tom./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-ansi-language:EN-US""Willowpaw, you're the greatest thing ever happened to me. I owe you my life," said Brownpaw. "You made me realize what I was doing wrong when you saved me from the previous badger attack."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-ansi-language:EN-US""But I couldn't save you this time!," she said, looking at Brownpaw./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-ansi-language:EN-US""I will never forget you Willowpaw. You taught me even more than Dawnheart," he said. "When your time comes, we can be mates in StarClan."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-ansi-language:EN-US""But I want to be your mate now! I wanted to live by your side, and take care of our kits, and do patrols together as warriors," she said. "I failed to save you!"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-ansi-language:EN-US""No Willowpaw," started Brownpaw. "I failed to protect myself. And I will miss you."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-ansi-language:EN-US""Good journey, old friend," said Willowpaw, when she realized Brownpaw was dead. She suddenly remembered, how he mocked her when they were kits, how they fell in love with each other, how they told each other they wanted to continue their life together… but that was over, thanks to the badger./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-ansi-language:EN-US""I'm really sorry," said Whitepaw, as she noticed Brownpaw was dead. "I didn't know you loved him so much."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-ansi-language:EN-US""My life sucks. First Silverfur, and now Brownpaw. StarClan must hate me!," she said, lowering her head./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-ansi-language:EN-US""Silverfur is dead?," asked Whitepaw./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-ansi-language:EN-US"Willowpaw nodded, and Whitepaw crouched next to her./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-ansi-language:EN-US"Suddenly, they saw the three warriors coming back./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-ansi-language:EN-US""We chased him toward RatClan terr…," started Dawnheart, until she noticed Brownpaw was dead./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-ansi-language:EN-US""He was a brave cat," said Stormpelt. "And the clan will honor him forever."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-ansi-language:EN-US"Lionfang and Whitepaw said goodbye and went back to their territory, while Dawnheart, Stormpelt and Willowpaw took Brownpaw's body back to the camp./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-ansi-language:EN-US"Softpelt prepared the apprentice's body for the vigil, and Squirrelpaw, Goosewing, Smokethroat, Dawnheart and Willowpaw crouched next to the body of the fallen apprentice./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-ansi-language:EN-US"After the vigil finished, Willowpaw went to the apprentice's den. She just wanted to sleep./span/p